Current pop culture trends have steered the vision of a cappella
groups away from barbershop quartets and toward singing groups that master the
art of creating instrumental sounds with vocal chords.

A cappella group Pentatonix has more 13 million subscribers on
YouTube and more than 240 million views of its most popular video. Yet another
film in the “Pitch Perfect” series about a collegiate a cappella group will hit
theaters later this year, and the “Sing-Off” competition series for voice-only
musicians lasted for a five-season run.

And while all of this is unfolding on a national and international
level, the trend of producing music—percussion, harmonies and melodies—all
using human voice techniques has trickled into the local scene, too. While
local group Herriman Harmonyx predated some of the pop culture a cappella icons
(it’s been around since 2011), it has benefitted from the new era’s buzz.

“Community members have seen it more mainstream, and there’s kind
of been this trend, so more people are receptive of the music we are doing,”
said Harmonyx member Don Allphin.

Occasionally, locals will recognize Harmonyx members in the
grocery store or other public venues and offer compliments, which Harmonyx
members said is rewarding. The group, whose 10 members are from southwest Salt
Lake County—mostly Herriman, Riverton, South Jordan and Taylorsville—is a
volunteer-based. While it is sponsored by the Herriman Arts Council, the
performers do not make money for their performances.

Deb Taylor, who’s been with the group since it started, said the
recent popularity of a cappella groups has brought the Harmonyx an influx of
song requests.

“I get a lot of people from our community reaching out and saying,
‘I think the Harmonyx need to do this song’ or ‘I would love to hear you do
this one or do that one,’” she said. “We get a lot of requests from things they
have heard, whether it is Pentatonix doing it or just another any song that
they maybe haven’t heard as an a cappella song. We try to make that happen when
we can.” Heightened interest in contemporary pop a cappella has increased
the demand for a cappella arrangements, according to Allphin, making it easier
to find music parts than it was in previous years. Still, it’s not possible to
find ideal 10-part arrangements of every song. That’s where Brent Rindlisbacher
comes in.

Rindlisbacher, a Harmonyx veteran, has created numerous a cappella
arrangements for the Harmonyx. The modest musician said his arrangements are
“always greeted with mixed reviews,” but his fellow group members disagree.

“Brent’s songs are the hardest, but they turn out amazing,” Harmonyx
singer Liz Cox reassured him. “They are just very technically difficult.”

Upon request, Rindlisbacher has been working on an arrangement of
Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling,” which the singers will perform at
the Fort Herriman Days festival June 24 at their usual time—just before the
headliner performs.

In the weekly rehearsals leading up to the performance, other
members of the group have helped Rindlisbacher edit and tweak the complex
composition here and there, getting it ready for showtime. But what some call
weekly rehearsals others call “weekly goof-offs.”

“Most of us, I think it is safe to say, have attention deficit.,”
Taylor said. “We are all over the place. Liz is really good. She has been our
music director for just over a month, I think, but she keeps us on track.”

Cox responded to Taylor’s comment.

“It’s good because I used to teach junior high choir, so I’m
really good at keeping people under control,” she said, as four others in the
group laughed in agreement.

And even though the group’s “craziness” keeps them from
concentrating from time to time, it’s also what makes their performances
memorable, Allphin said.

Allphin still remembers when Herriman Harmonyx performed at Taylor
and Rindlisbacher’s workplace for Christmas a few years back. The group had
created a holiday-themed script, and Allphin played an elf and wore tights to
look the part. In addition to wearing costumes, the group invited the company
CEO and COO to dance with them on stage.

Interacting with audience members and bringing them up on stage is
something that sets Herriman Harmonyx apart from other musical groups,
according to group member Nate Bartlett. In the choir’s main concert each year,
its Valentine’s cabaret, the members try to get the audience to participate in
the show, he said.

The Valentine’s cabaret is what prompted the creation of the
Herriman Harmonyx eight years ago. Julie Reed, a former Herriman Arts Council
member, had a vision of organizing a city-sponsored romantic date night for
couples around Valentine’s Day, so she hosted rigorous auditions for an a cappella
choir that would perform at the event.

The three-hour auditions required sight reading, along with solo
and group singing. Taylor admits to being intimidated by the other female
competitors. Coming from a musical instrument background, she said she was
doubtful about making the cut.

Rindlisbacher expressed similar memories about the audition.

“There were only five guys auditioning, but there were only four
parts,” he said. “I was so nervous I couldn’t even stand it.”

But he and Taylor made it through the audition and into the group
despite their own insecurities.Several years after those initial auditions, Reed moved, but
Herriman Harmonyx group members decided to keep the group alive without a
director.

“We still do the cabaret every year, but we’ve changed it a little
bit from her original vision of romantic and sweetness to a kind of crazy
comedy with lots of satire,” Taylor said.

The valentine’s cabaret takes on a new theme and a self-written
script each year. This year the cabaret was based off the TV sitcom “Gilligan’s
Island.” The 2016 valentine’s cabaret titled “Night of the Loving Dead” had a
zombie apocalypse theme. The storylines weaves songs from many genres into one
story. The newest member of Herriman Harmonyx, Jeanette Herrera, who
joined the group in late March just missed the Valentine’s cabaret but merged
into the group in time for its April 4 “Star-Spangled Banner Performance” at
the Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City. She said the experience brought
back memories of singing all over the world with choir and musical theater
groups more than 17 years ago.

The soprano has a bachelor’s degree in music dance theatre from Southern
Virginia University, but she said she gave up all a cappella and musical
theater style singing about 10 years ago when she became a single mom.

“I gave up musical theater just because you need to commit like
three months in the evening at a time if you are going to do a professional
show, and I just couldn’t do that for my babies,” Herrera said.

Herrera has continued to get her music fix by contributing lead
vocals to her band Rhythm Addicts, which performs at bars, corporate events and
weddings, but she said she’s grateful to return to her music roots by singing
with the Harmonyx.

“I think what makes us unique is because we bring all the party
right here in our body, so these men, they do the percussion,” she said. “We do
everything, so we don’t have to bring the drums and guitar—they are all of
that. They are the rhythm section, and it is just beautiful. I think there is
an element that no other band can have.”

Several other Harmonyx members also expressed their gratitude that
the community group gives them an avenue to share their talents.

In addition to Allphin, Rindlisbacher, Taylor, Cox and Bartlett,
other Herriman Harmonyx members are Andy Rasmussen, Hilary Bagley and Andrea
Taylor. The group is currently looking for a tenor voice. Interested persons
may contact Allphin at 801-400-7172.